Children under five must not consume raw milk, fluid or cheese: this is the message that the mission of health emergencies sends out after the recent contamination of several young children with E. coli bacteria.
Gruyère not concerned. "Children under five must not consume raw milk cheese or raw milk, but the risk is still there, but it is still decreasing, children are still better protected beyond five. years, "said the head of the mission of health emergencies to the Ministry of Agriculture, Marie-Pierre Donguy. The warning, however, does not concern cheeses made from raw milk, cooked pressed dough, such as Swiss cheese, the ministry added.
Some of the 13 infected children still hospitalized
The health authorities announced Saturday the precautionary recall of cheeses Saint Marcellin and Saint-Félicien manufactured by the Drôme company Fromagerie Alpine and sold in particular under several brands of distributors, after the contamination of 13 young children with the bacteria Escherichia coli type O26 since March 21th. Some of these children aged "six months to four years", with kidney complications, were still hospitalized Monday, according to Public Health France.
The investigations into the exact origin of the contamination are "still in progress", according to Marie-Pierre Donguy who explains that as a precaution, the authorities have made a recall of all cheese production since February, which represents a large volume. The withdrawal-recall process is also still ongoing, and distributors use loyalty cards to warn consumers who have bought them. The head of the MUS recalled that "in the last two epidemics, all cases were children under five".